Chapter 9

Days passed as Bruce Wayne nursed a sore heart of memories. Sipping a hot cup of coffee at Wayne Towers, he fumbled for a remote in his desk to turn on the closed circuit TV that hung on a corner wall of the office.

Flipping channels, he immediately turned back to the Gotham News Network, noticing breaking-news. Watching in shock, he realized what he was seeing.

Mayor Hill was reported missing sometime last night at around midnight. It appears to be an abduction, Summer Gleason reported, a top anchor at the network.

How did this happen? he wondered, hitting the mute button as the weather aired. Batman's been visiting the mayor's mansion quite a bit. The security measures were up to date; no one could've broken in and nabbed him.

Returning the sound to the TV, another grave announcement flashed.

Three witnesses sighted a man in green, believed to be the Riddler, robbing Gotham's First National Bank about thirty minutes ago, Commissioner Gordon said through the TV, to an anchor that was at the scene. There's no sign of him or his newfound gang.

At that moment, Bruce knew something had to be done and the time was now! Pushing the intercom button to speak with Margaret, he canceled the rest of the day's meetings. Turning off the television set, he stuffed the bulky remote back in a drawer beside a metal box, which housed a concealed gun, and left.

Later that night, Batman stood ready in the Batcave as Alfred loaded a fresh utility belt. He ambled over to the central computer and keyed a few things in. After adorning his belt, Batman departed from his friend.

On the Batcycle, he shot off like a rocket towards the West End, a minor corrupt section of the city. Planning to check the bank for clues, he wondered if anything useful might have been left behind during the robbery. If nothing else, he betted that there would be a few of the GCPD still lingering around the crime scene. Still, it's worth a shot, he decided, hoping to avoid any confrontation with cops, fearing it would be a waste of valuable time.

The Dark Knight wondered why the Riddler and his gang waited until now to capture the Mayor. Even though he had a pretty good idea that the Riddler was the culprit, he still wasn't completely sure. The biggest puzzle to this case was going to be how the Mayor was abducted under such tight security. One thing was for certain, Batman had to act fast. If any harm were to come to Mayor Hill, this city would fall deeper into Hell than it already was.

As he raced past downtown, he headed through to Davis Avenue, which was the city's main route from business district to the West End. At the corner of Davis and Grant, the First National Bank emerged from the nightly shadows. Just as he expected, cops swarmed the building.

Quickly downshifting the bike's gears, it stalled as he threw his weight to the left. Without hesitation, he turned the machine around and headed in the opposite direction.

Since his first destination didn't exactly pan out, he was off to the Bowery and out to Crown Point to pay a visit to the Riddler and his cronies. The Bowery was just outside downtown, so the Dark Knight took a shortcut through Old Gotham, the district closest to Gotham Square, to reach the Bowery faster and possibly save some spare time.

Switching gears again, the Batcycle hummed softer as it cruised into an alleyway. Batman soon reached the mouth of Crown Point. Stalling and shutting off the engine of his striking machine, he promptly concealed it behind an old rusted dumpster next to what he recognized as the Riddler's chemical refinery hideout.

With a moment's notice, he pulled a grapple gun from his belt and shot a line to the roof. From the roof, he rubbed dirt off of a domed skylight but no lights were visible inside. The place seemed deserted.

He quickly busted through the skylight and fell into the darkness, landing on his feet two stories down.

With a quick flick of his utility belt, his night vision lenses fell over his eyes. In the darkness, he saw nothing. Empty?

Moving around, he heard a faint beeping noise, an electronic drone sounding as if it was underneath the floor. As he took a few steps towards an entryway to the far left of him, a large and heavy fisherman's net fell from above trapping the Dark Knight.

. He grabbed a utility file from his belt and began sawing through the net. Abruptly the beeping drone stopped. There was now dead silence as he continued sawing through the net for a possible escape. He then heard a loud tick come from below him. Growing more nervous and anxious, as if he had made a mistake in coming here, Batman restlessly continued to break through the thick, heavy net. With a hole finally made in the net, he struggled to fit through just as something under the floorboard detonated.

BOOM!